Fire alarm systems are often installed within buildings such as commercial, residential, or governmental buildings. Examples include hospitals, warehouses, schools, malls and casinos, to list a few examples. These fire alarm systems typically include a control panel and fire detection devices and fire annunciation devices, which are installed throughout the buildings. Some examples of fire detection devices include smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, temperature sensors, and/or pull stations. Some examples of fire annunciation devices include speakers/horns, bells/chimes, light emitting diode (LED) reader boards, and/or flashing lights (e.g., strobes). Additionally, some fire alarm systems may also include security devices such as surveillance cameras, access control readers, and door controllers, to list a few examples.
The fire detection devices monitor the buildings for indicators of fire. Upon detection of an indicator of fire, the device is activated and a signal is sent from the activated device to the fire control panel. Typically, the fire control panel activates audio and visible alarms of the fire annunciation devices of the fire alarm system and sends a signal to a fire department, central receiving station, local monitoring station, and/or other building alarm/notification systems.
Typically, the fire detection and fire annunciation devices are periodically tested (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on local interpretation and enforcement of fire protection codes) to verify that the fire detection and fire annunciation devices are physically sound, unaltered, working properly, and located in their assigned locations. This testing of the fire detection and fire annunciation devices is often accomplished with a walkthrough test.
Historically, walkthrough tests were performed by a team of at least two technicians. The first technician walked through the building and manually activated each fire detection and fire annunciation device while the second technician remained at the control panel to verify that the control panel received a signal from the activated device. The technicians would typically communicate via two-way radios or mobile phones to coordinate the testing of each device. In some cases, the technicians might even have resorted to comparing hand written notes of the tested devices. After a group of fire detection and fire annunciation devices was tested, the technician at the panel reset the control panel while the other technician moved to the next fire detection or fire annunciation device.
Recently, single-person walkthrough systems have been proposed. In these systems, the technician connects a computer to the control panel and a first two-way radio. The technician then establishes a communications link with the first two-way radio using a second two-way radio and selecting the same radio frequency on both of the two-way radios. Alternatively, the technician may establish a communications link with cellular phones or a paging transmitter and pager.
During the walkthrough test, the technician places one of the fire detection or fire annunciation devices into an alarm condition. The control panel detects the alarm condition of the activated device and sends a message containing the location and/or address of the activated device to the computer. Next, the computer converts the message received from the control panel to an audio stream and sends the audio stream to the technician over the communications link. The technician hears the location and/or address of the activated device and verifies if the device is wired correctly. The testing process repeats with the next fire detection or fire annunciation device until all of the fire detection and fire annunciation devices of the alarm system have been verified.